The Copyrights Albums (4)
'Learn the Hard Way'
Release Date 2/26/2008
Tracks 14
Label Red Scare
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Four albums into their career, the Copyrights seem to have set up a pattern. Albums one and three, We Didn't Come Here to Die and Make Sound, were bright, speedy pop-punk in the grand Screeching Weasel tradition, while album two, Mutiny Pop, was a shade harder in edge and darker in tone. The same can be said for Learn the Hard Way, which also introduces just a hint of old-school hardcore in the abbreviated song lengths: nearly half of the 14 songs are in the 90 seconds or less range, with one, "Solid Connex," getting its point across in half a minute. Aside from that welcome brevity, cranky songs like "Shit's Fucked" and "Headaches," and a newly roughened vocal tone from lead singer Adam Fletcher throughout, most notably on the hoarse "Pulse Check," further move Learn the Hard Way away from the generally sunny tone of 2007's Make Sound. However, this is still the Copyrights, so the band's heart remains in crisp, melodic pop-punk delivered with hooky riffs and spunky energy, even on darker-hued material like the somewhat desperate "Switchblades" which, rather than exploding into the expected transcendent fist-pumping final chorus after an atypically long instrumental break, instead builds the tension further with a repeated call and response refrain before cutting off with a dead stop. In this context, a giddy love song like "She Turns It Up" sounds even more welcome than it might otherwise be. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
If you're in the mood for fun and simple power pop-punk, there's really no need to look any further than Carbondale, IL's the Copyrights. Just as their first two records proved, you don't need fancy studio tricks or even much variation on a few chords to make an irresistible album that's exploding with enthusiasm, smarts, and enough hooks to keep you moving and singing along for, well, at least 30 minutes. Make Sound is a summertime record, perfect for driving around with the windows down and dancing like an idiot. The sound of a cassette tape being popped in opens the record (and the tape nicely flips over after track seven), ushering in the Copyrights' brightest and poppiest set yet. Tracks like "Knee Deep" and "Thinking with the Lights On" are catchy blasts of energy, but this time it's in a way not quite so indebted to Ben Weasel and company. They've got their own sound. So sure, the album is a bit more pop than punk -- and the production is way cleaner -- but the same muscle and spirited restlessness power through these songs as always. "Kids of the Blackhole" is the anthem for anyone stuck in a small town, living paycheck to paycheck and loving it, while the singsongy chorus of "The Company" makes maliciousness sound like fun. There's a lot more thought going into these 14 straightforward tracks than one might initially think, yet the Copyrights never take themselves too seriously -- take the good-natured humor of "Planet Earth Nineteen-Ninety-Four," where "We made excuses to not like Green Day/But we wore the tape out anyway/What our friends don't know won't hurt them/Of course they were doing the same thing." And ultimately it's that natural mixture of fun and smarts that makes the guys so likable and their record stand out among their pop-punk peers. Good, good stuff. ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When you look at the back of the album and see titles like "Weapons of Math Destructions," "My Heroes Are All Assholes," and "Help Me Stay Awake," it's easy to figure that the Copyrights are another one of those punk-pop bands with more bad jokes than rock action. But hearing Mutiny Pop settles the score fast enough -- while this Illinois foursome has hooks and catchy riffs the way an alley cat has fleas, this is more punk than pop, with lots of muscle backing up Nick O'Neal and Brett Hunter's guitars, and bassist Adam Fletcher and drummer Luke McNeill driving the tempos like a truck driver who just got a new prescription for Benzedrine. And while these are flashes of humor in their music, the Copyrights are more about middle-class rage than playing for laughs; the opening cut, "Cashiers," maps out their perspective clearly enough ("We are the cashiers/We are the delivery boys/We are not ashamed/We got a life and we live it"), and along the way they throw verbal punches at math rock losers, wannabe rock stars, conformists, and incompetent authority while speaking with a weary but clear-eyed surety that suggests they have principles and aren't afraid to do something with them. Musically, the Copyrights aren't reinventing the wheel, but they play the standard punk changes with strength and fire, and they're a good bit smarter and tougher than most of the folks following similar paths -- this is a band with a future, and Mutiny Pop shows their present is already worth a listen. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'We Didn't Come Here to Die'
Release Date 11/9/2004
Tracks 13
Label Insubordination Records
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Carbondale, IL's Copyrights debut with the crisp, clean pop-punk of We Didn't Come Here to Die, a considerably brighter and more tuneful record than one might suspect from the rather grim cover art and title. Produced by Mass Giorgini, perhaps the all-time master of the two-minute pop-punk gem in the tradition of the Queers and Screeching Weasel, the album sets up and knocks down 13 speedy blasts of buzzsaw guitars and bubblegum melodies featuring Adam Fletcher's boyish vocals and often self-deprecating lyrics. Tunes like "Face for Radio," "Four Eyes," and "Let's Waste Time Together" are as goofily charming as the best Mr. T Experience tracks, and quirky character studies like the 68-second "Not for Shaving" throw in just enough of a dark side to keep things from getting too cute. The only problem is that for all the tunefulness and giddy charm of the album, it's impossible to pretend that the Copyrights are doing anything the least bit new or unique, for those who care about such things. We Didn't Come Here to Die is a fun example of the form, but the Copyrights are bringing nothing new to the party. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
